July preliminary North America Class 8 net orders were 13,400 units, down 8 percent m/m and 13 percent y/y. Complete industry data for July, including final order numbers, will be published by ACT Research in mid-August.

“Class 8 orders remained at directionally and seasonally expected levels in July,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s President and Senior Analyst. “Historically, July is the worst month of the year for Class 8 orders, so is awarded the biggest seasonal factor, nearly 24 percent this year. Applying that seasonal factor boosts July’s seasonally adjusted intake to 17,500 units, which results in a narrower 3.7 percent m/m decline.”

Vieth added, “The headwinds that have been buffeting the U.S. portion of the NA commercial vehicle industry did not diminish through 1H’24 and were arguably a touch worse at the start of the year’s second half. Preliminary results of public TL carriers’ Q2 performance are only encouraging in the sense that the nominal results were up from Q1. To this we add surging and record-level inventories, in both the medium- and heavy-duty markets. Given the above, we have been repeatedly surprised to the upside on order activity. As was the case in June, July’s orders were more closely aligned with data-driven expectations.”